Sporting Gijón Win Sees Getafe And Rayo Vallecano Relegated

There will be a couple less Madrid derby’s next season as Sporting Gijón pulled off a memorable escape from relegation on a dramatic final day of the 2015/16 La Liga season on Sunday. Sporting’s 2-0 win against Villarreal, combined with Getafe’s defeat at Real Betis, saw the Asturians climb out of the drop zone and relegate the capital side.

Getafe went into their clash at Betis one above the bottom three, knowing that a win would guarantee survival. However, they went down 2-1 at the Benito Villamarín and, having been a top-flight team since 2004/05, fall through the trap door to Segunda División

Getafe will be joined in the second tier by Rayo Vallecano, who were relegated despite a 3-1 home victory over already-relegated Levante, to end its six-year stay in the first division.

Neither Madrid side were happy with the way that the results went on the last day of the season with Rayo president Raul Martin Presa the most outspoken, as he slammed the Europa League semi0finalists for offering nothing against Sporting:

“Villarreal didn’t compete, neither did their line-up, substitutes nor approach [to the game],” he told Carrusel Deportivo after the game.

“From the first minute, we saw that it wasn’t a game of football.

“We sacrificed ourselves in the match, while Villarreal didn’t make any preparations [for the game], not having any shots on goal or anything.

Sporting put themselves in pole position for safety early on, through a fine Jony volley – a goal that put them above Getafe in the table, having begun the day level on points with the Madrid club but with the inferior head-to-head record.

And when Germán Pezzella gave Betis a second-half lead in Seville, the Gijón miracle was within touching distance.

Betis’ Rubén Castro then finished off Getafe from the spot, while Sergio Álvarez doubled Sporting’s advantage – and the celebrations were underway at El Molinón. A late, spectacular strike from Getafe’s Álvaro Medrán proved academic.